Reading order and depth: what the evidence says

Topic: in what order, and to what depth, should a reader take a body of linked material, and when should they stop?

Claims

Claim	Grade	Where
An overview or map read before the text improves memory and comprehension	measured (small for organizers, d = 0.21; larger for maps, g = 0.70)	review.md strand 1
Context given before a passage helps; given after, it does not	measured	review.md strand 1
Telling the reader what matters raises learning of that part and lowers the rest	measured	review.md strand 2
Showing a worked example before its paired problem beats problems alone	measured	review.md strand 3
Instruction before problem for material with many interacting elements	supported with caveat	review.md strand 3
Interleaving practice across units beats blocking (g = 0.42)	measured	review.md strand 4
In hypertext, next section = most related section helps low-knowledge readers	measured	review.md strand 5
Self-explaining a proof line by line raises comprehension (d = 0.95)	measured (3 experiments)	review.md strand 5
Breadth-first beats depth-first reading, or the reverse	convention, untested	position.md
Elaboration (zoom-lens) and spiral sequencing	convention, untested	against.md
Iterative deepening with a stop rule (depth levels, thresholds)	convention, untested	position.md
Stop thresholds (minutes, number of descents)	convention, untested, PROVISIONAL	position.md